Sachin Tendulkar (pictured) has a very modest record at Lord's, the home of cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar is on the verge of making history - more history that is. The Indian batsman is tantalizingly close to scoring his 100th century in international cricket.

Tendulkar is already head and shoulders above his rivals when it comes to scoring centuries. His nearest challenger, Australia’s Ricky Ponting, is some distance behind with a "mere" 69 tons to his name.

The Mumbai-born legend is playing at Lord's - the home of cricket - in the 100th Test match between his native India and hosts England. It is also the 2,000th Test match of all time.

The stage could not be better set for the “Little Master” to reach another milestone in his glittering career.

Batsmen have scored 100 centuries in the past - but not at international level. It’s difficult to put Tendulkar’s feat into words, this really is something special.

But is he the best batsman to walk the planet? Put simply, yes he is.

Australian Don Bradman is often talked about as the top dog –- he had an incredible international average of almost 100 –- but in most people’s eyes Tendulkar is on another level, despite a more modest average of 49.71 runs.

Talking of averages, the West Indies’ Andy Ganteaume tops the list at 112. But this was his only innings!

Next up is Bradman, who amassed 6,996 runs during a Test career which ended well before the advent of limited-overs cricket and the introduction to the five-day game of minor nations such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Needing just four runs in his final Test innings in 1948 to achieve an average of 100, he was out before troubling the scorers - leaving him on 99.94 from his 52 matches.

By comparison, Tendulkar is playing in his 633rd international in the various formats of the modern game - more than any other cricketer. And to date he has scored an incredible 32,813 runs.

His nearest challenger, again, is Ponting, almost 7,000 runs behind.

It all started for Tendulkar in 1989 with a crunch match against Pakistan, when as a 16-year-old he made just 15 before being skittled by Waqar Younis. Since then he has gone from strength to strength.

And it’s not just limited to the sub-continent where the speed and action of the ball is affected by the humidity – an advantage for home players.

Tendulkar averages 51 on home soil, as well as in Sri Lanka, but in the pressure-cooker matches against bitter rivals Pakistan it falls slightly, to 39.

His West Indies average is 47, in South Africa it’s 41 and in Australia, 46.

But his best average? That's 52. In England - where he’s hoping to rewrite the record books.

His only immediate problem though is his notoriously poor form at Lord's. His top score at the home of cricket is a meager 37, with an average of 21.

But even if he doesn’t achieve the landmark 100th ton this match, it’s only a question of time before he does.

soundoff(19 Responses)

Very few would question the achievements of Tendulkar, but the same can't be said for the writer's understanding of cricket.

1. It will not be Tendulkar's 100th Test century, it will be his 100th century in an international match...
2. 633 internationals is remarkable, but 453 of these are one-day internationals, a version of cricket unheard of in Bradman's day.

Finally, I am not sure how you can claim 'but in most people’s eyes Tendulkar is on another level' when Bradman's average was 99.94 and Tendulkar's is 49.71 (actually, 56.95 for test matches, which would make for a more accurate comparison).

While many would love to debate which one of the these two greats is the 'greatest', I just want be able to read an article that exhibits a better understanding of the topic than this lame effort does....

He missed it, was getting on well, but missed it. Whole of the cricketing world was looking for it. Not just Indians, but whole of England was there to witness the event. Truly the only person to go beyond boundaries. Literally...

Without in any way diminishing Tendulkar's amazing feats, you cannot compare batsment of this era with ealier periods. In Bradman's day, they were amateurs, not professionals. Travel to England for a Test match took 6-8 weeks by ship, not just 20 hours in Business Class. There were fewer countries playing Tests, and no minnows. Scoring a Test century against Zimbabwe is not the same as scoring against England. There were no video replays to coach batsmen and bowlers in the weaknesses of their opponents. There were few physio's to mend injuries, and few medicines to combat the ills suffered while travelling. I was a very different world, with very different challenges. People who know the game simply don't do the comparisons you are attempting.

Great player, probably the greatest batsman of the last 20 years (though Ponting runs him close. But, not even close to Bradman. No one gets close to Bradman. His 99.94 average is out of sight, the next best is about 60. It's like a baseball average of .500 for a career, when .300 is pretty darn good. Bradman didn't play nearly the number of Tests as Sachin because far fewer nations played in the '30's and '40's – and no one played from 1939 to 1945. Bradman stands head and shoulders above all others. And this from a Brit!

What Sir Donald achieved will probably never be repeated, he was is and will always be the greatest to grace the pitch. He also missed a number of years as many of his era did due to WW2. His approach to the game was sublime and statistic often do not tell the full story. That said Sachin is also a great player and one worth of the praise he gets, there are none in the modern era that can compare, but as the little master has often said himself, Bradman is the best....

I am one of the millions of fans Tendulkar has but to see an article like this is an absolute disgrace..Jonathon whoever you may be and what ever you may be good at but writing about cricket is not your thing..please try something else..

A great batsman, a great symbol and a remarkable athlete. I really hope he gets the 100th international century but the pressure to get it has clearly got to him and some of the Indian players in the tour of England.

Sachin is an all time great batsman BUT not a cricketer because, to me, being a cricketer means, being a fighter. He doesn't score when his team needs his runs. He makes centuries when the conditions are suitable and favorable for batting.

As great a batsman as Tendulkar is, most people do not consider him to be better than Bradman, atleast not outside of the Subcontinent.

"His only immediate problem though is his notoriously poor form at Lord's. His top score at the home of cricket is a meager 37, with an average of 21."

It was his only immediate problem, if we set aside Englands test match form, the fact that England have the best bowling line up in test cricket, including James Anderson who has a knack of getting Tendulkar out, then it would have been plain sailing.

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